Overstimulation - how are are you dealing with it?

The only thing that calms me down when I feel over stimulated is music. It can really change my mood. I dont know if it would work for you but I use it daily to control how I feel so you could try to purposefully use it for that x

I would try earplugs. Some people might not understand that, but there are earplugs actually made for parents with children. They will not block noise entirely, however will reduce the volume and that is a great help already.
Have a look at those below, they are quite pretty, so if you buy them you might think you are treating yourself to something nice 😊

https://www.loopearplugs.com/pages/earplugs-for-parenting#:~:text=Take%20the%20edge%20off,with%20a%20bit%20more%20calm.

I only have my toddler and baby for one day a week and this day is so so hard- so how you manage 3 i don’t know.

we try and get out to a toddler group / park in morning and then movie time late afternoon and clock watch until husband comes home 5.30 🙈

i’m finding each week gets a little easier - my toddler has taken a long long time to adjust - and eg he still cries when the 3 month old cries and it’s tough… but i believe as each week gets better this gets less and less so hoping this is case for you too

also at a toddlers group other mums with just one might offer to help!

I can’t say I understand your situation as I don’t. Mine is far easier than yours with just one toddler and a baby. There are times I get overstimulated and just can’t get through the day. I don’t know how helpful this is but is just cry it out and then once I have offloaded myself I feel a little better. Luckily I have good work colleagues who do come and see him when I need them to ( don’t have any family or friends around where I live ). My husband takes some days off once in a month and drives me to my sister’s place and I get such a helping hand from her.
I make sure my son’s tab is always charged coz I don’t know when i will need it and trust me it’s a saviour at times ( judge me all you want 😂) but this is the only thing that keeps me sane x

I only have 2 but at similar ages. I’m very lucky that my toddler loves being a big sister (sometimes too helpful) she cannot wait to be able to play together.

Things I have done to help are:
My nearly 2 year old has just started pre-school for 2 mornings a week, it’s only 3 hours but it helps.

Family lunchtime nap - this took a lot of work to get to this point but it’s a lifesaver - during my toddlers lunchtime nap I put the baby down for a nap in her cot with the monitor on, she will only have 40 mins but It means I can have a Power Nap or just have 40 mins to eat lunch in peace or have a cup of tea.

Get out the house every day, this helps me as well as both girls enjoy being outside, even if it is just a look round the garden centre if it’s raining.

If your then still struggling - sleep training! Clearly from all your posts and aggressive comments to anyone mentioning sleep you are against this but it works.

I got a Yoto player for my toddler, it reads stories to him so he sits quietly to listen. Good bits of screen time without the bad. Gives you a bit of peace to sort babies out. Yoto are expensive but you could always record a story on your phone recordings or go old school with a cassette 😆

I'm really sorry, I'm struggling with just one! Honestly having my first has made me question my ability to have another full stop but I'm at least gonna have to wait til she's at school. You are incredible for coping and I hope you find something that works for you.

My only suggestion is consider aromatherapy.

literally came on here to say this! Although I have yet to order them but I am definitely going to as I am struggling too 🙉

I genuinely think that, for me at least, this is the hardest part of motherhood. I’ve got a 4 month old and a 2 year old, and I honestly have felt horrendous with just the constant bloody noise, being needed by someone or touched by someone constantly, and then with hormones and lack of sleep it’s a wonder I haven’t just left and not come back some days!
It is SO tough, I just take really deep, slow breaths (signals calm to your brain) and if things are really bad, I leave them in a safe place and go into the bathroom to listen to loud music for 2 minutes max. Hang in there 💜 I’m sure you’re smashing it.

Thanks all, some good suggestions here for me to try, thanks for sharing some much needed brain power with me.

I know it's hard for anyone with more than one right now but sometimes I think omg this would be absolutely easy if I had just one newborn, then the mum guilt hits like a ton of bricks.

I get aggressive because it's treated like sleep training and "self settling" is the be all and end all solution to all problems.

I didn't actually mention any problems with my kids sleep in my post. One of my twins does "self settle" at the start of sleeps, the other needs minimal help to sleep for naps only. My toddler sleeps through about 95%, only wakes when teething/dev phase/ ill.

But when you've had a newborn who is breastfed, gone through all their regressions, been heavily pregnant with twins, gone through their newborn stage exclusively breastfeeding them you're just gonna be sleep deprived even if they're all fabulous sleepers. You suggest sleep training, I would ask who? The 3.5 mo olds who still need a night feed or the toddler who sleeps through?

Sorry I couldn’t resist the comment after your attitude towards others asking for help and people making comments on what has worked for them.

I can imagine that it is very hard with twins and have sympathy with you there. Parenting is the best but hardest job in the world.

But we are all mums with small children and we should be supporting each other not aggressively bringing people down. Everyone parents differently and does what they think is best for their family and that’s ok.

and you're the only one who has suggested sleep training when you acknowledge in the same sentence I'm not for it - so my reply about it can't be a surprise for you. I did not ask for help/suggestions on how to change my kids behaviour but my own reactions to them. All their sleep and behaviour is completely normal, it is me that needs improvement here in regards to how to stay calm when I am overstimulated.

If you have some problem with me, my communication style, my attitude or views on kid sleep (or anything) then feel free to scroll past my posts, or just block me.

Oh I feel this. I feel so overwhelmed and overstimulated at times, I have a 3 year old and a 4 month old. I get so stressed out at times then I feel like a shit mum. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t affect my mental health and there have been days where my mood has completely crashed and burned and other days I’ve felt fine. I’ve self referred to the well-being service to do “talk therapy” (NHS) and in the meantime I’ve accessed “pandas” WhatsApp messaging, I’ve found it really helpful to blow off steam about how I’m feeling and it’s much easier than trying to talk on the phone!

https://pandasfoundation.org.uk/how-we-can-support-you/whatsapp-support/